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From the AP:

Three times a day, workers at the Hudson Valley Foie Gras farm wade into duck pens, grab birds one at a time and slide a 15-inch metal tube inside the animals' long necks. The force feeding fattens the ducks' livers, which is sold as foie gras. This sprawling farm northwest of New York City is the nation's No. 1 producer of the velvety delicacy -- and a target for force feeding opponents trying to build on recent successes in Chicago and California.

The farm faces a series of legal complaints from the Humane Society of the United States that, if successful, would cripple business. Operators of the farm are fighting back and trying to show that the feeding process is not the animal torture portrayed by foes.

"It's not harmful to catch the ducks. They're not going crazy," said operations manager Marcus Henley. "There's no pain evidenced when I watched it."

These are difficult days for foie gras (fwah-GRAH), French for "fat liver." High-wattage celebrities like Paul McCartney oppose it. California is banning force-fed foie gras starting in 2012 and Chicago in August banned foie gras sales. Similar bans are proposed in other states and cities.

Yep, it's a slow news day.

Posted by edelfenbein at September 1, 2006 2:28 PM